Seven Overlooked iPhone 3G Details | Hacker News Reader

Seven Overlooked iPhone 3G Details

seekingalpha.com

10 pointstimr6 comments

3. Multiple carriers in some countries. As Apple pushes forward to deliver the iPhone is 72 countries, it seems to have gotten overly enthusiastic in countries like Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Australia, each of which has gotten not one, but two carriers offering the iPhone. So much for exclusive carrier deals.

I can't speak for the others, but I haven't seen a single iPhone in Austria (in use, or in a shop; I know of a single person who owns one) so far, so maybe Apple isn't happy about T-Mobile's sales here.

Not having 3G in a country with over 60% 3G coverage (and ~99% GSM coverage) probably hasn't helped so far, so maybe the new model will change things.

The Austrian mobile phone market is heavily oversaturated, with more phones than inhabitants, so sales are presumably pretty hard to get. I haven't seen T-Mobile promoting the iPhone at all, although they do feature it prominently on their website. (http://t-mobile.at/)

The tariff of €39/month with a 2 year binding is very pricy, especially as text messages (SMS) are €0.25 each. (I pay €0.04 for text messages with no monthly fees) Of course, you're implicitly paying for the phone, but the whole deal just doesn't stack up well against the competition. You can get unlocked iPhones on ebay for €400-500, although I'm very wary of those - no idea if they can still be updated to the latest firmware. Also, shared data/voice plans are very expensive here, much more than getting separate data and voice SIMs, which isn't particularly useful with the iPhone.

Somehow in the hoopla (or was it that I was actually working while the world stopped for Steve?), I missed the in-store activation requirement. One of the best things about my phone was peeling it open at home, sitting with my mac, and getting it all setup. Having to open the package and wait for someone to do it for me, is a HUGE step backwards. I understand that this is how AT&T makes sure they're getting their cut, but still am disappointed by this step back. But, on the bright side, used iPhones may hold a little value after all. I can dream can't I?

BTW: Much of my surfing of HN is done on the iPhone. Brilliant device when you need your fix and aren't at the keyboard (though I do make a good bit more typos when commenting from it).

While I'm not discounting any value that adds, I'd rather pay $200 less and have someone else open it.

But you're not paying $200 less, you're just redistributing your payments over time.

I don't know if it's the same way with AT&T, but when I wanted to get service from T-Mobile with my own phone which I owned free and clear, they STILL made me take a multi-year contract. So the only difference was that I didn't get a free phone from them.

I don't have an iPhone right now. I'm paying the "new" iPhone rates on my Blackberry as it is, so it is cheaper.

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